390 short block ????

[mike7570]

A lot will depend on what intake I end up with. Not many good selections in that regard.

There are many FE intakes (Jay has an entire book on them) and many more are now available with his adapter. There must be something out there that you would like?

[fekbmax]

Hell, with one of his adapters the selection is even greater

[blykins]

Yep, with CHI making 3V, 4V, and even dual plane 3V intakes, there's an excellent selection if you use Jay's adapter.

[fekbmax]

Brent,
In your opinion how does the 4v parker racing funnel web compare  to the CHI 4v ?

[blykins]

If you're trying to take advantage of a full sized 4V port, the CHI 4V intake won't work.  It's meant to be used with 4V ports that have port fillers, or tongues.  The Funnel Web is an excellent intake, as is the older Holley Strip Dominator.   Both of them kick booty. 

The 3V intakes are proprietary and are meant to be used with the 3V heads, which have very small (high velocity) ports.   CHI also has a "Pro" intake that does not have a valley plate cast into it and looks more like a Roush/Yates intake.  It will support 900 hp without any work, right out of the box.  The catch is that it's for the "Pro Port" 3V heads which have the intake ports 1/2" higher than the normal 3V heads.

[scott foxwell]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

[blykins]

Lots of 60's technology, but it works.  Some of them have limitations (the FE head/intake layout IS a limitation), but we work around them. 

A Performer RPM or a Blue Thunder 1x4 MR would support your theoretical horsepower goal.   A Victor FE or Tunnel Wedge will support insane amounts of power. 

As Barry noted, the FE doesn't translate power like a BBC or a SBF.  It's a different engine with a different learning curve.

[mike7570]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

Scott, reading your post I get you know what your talking about however if your going to build an FE you just can't be thinking in the back of your mind about what the cost are compared to a Chevy. Everything cost more (a lot more) than a Chevy. LOL 
That's just something you have to get use to, it's also part of the fun to build a strong engine from what others consider old or obsolete technology.
And if you just need that bowtie fix, the FE in my super-gas car had Chevy rods, pistons, pins, rings, water pump and a powerglide in it..

[Barry_R]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

Probably correct on that one.  Note the intakes I used on many EMC entries when the manifold rules were fairly open.  Mostly dual planes.  I have a really, really nicely modified Victor and the BT dual plane still usually came out on top - huge gains below torque peak and gave up essentially nothing at peak.  One of the issues is port positions on the head - the unobtanium BT high riser stuff fixes that nicely but you cannot buy any kind of decent intake for that combination - I can put a medium riser intake on one but the work required borders on the epic.  John wanted to do a real race quality intake & head package for the FE with radical changes, but the vast majority of the FE crowd is very traditional and I was afraid I would end up with a really bitchin' part and I would sell like six of them....

[scott foxwell]

Lots of 60's technology, but it works.  Some of them have limitations (the FE head/intake layout IS a limitation), but we work around them. 

A Performer RPM or a Blue Thunder 1x4 MR would support your theoretical horsepower goal.   A Victor FE or Tunnel Wedge will support insane amounts of power. 

As Barry noted, the FE doesn't translate power like a BBC or a SBF.  It's a different engine with a different learning curve.

Bingo. Every engine is a compromise.  To me, it's not an "FE", it's just a combination of parts that have their limitations. I try to not get roped into the thinking of "well, it's an "FE", so this or that must be true". I'll try not to expect too much.

[scott foxwell]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

Probably correct on that one.  Note the intakes I used on many EMC entries when the manifold rules were fairly open.  Mostly dual planes.  I have a really, really nicely modified Victor and the BT dual plane still usually came out on top - huge gains below torque peak and gave up essentially nothing at peak.  One of the issues is port positions on the head - the unobtanium BT high riser stuff fixes that nicely but you cannot buy any kind of decent intake for that combination - I can put a medium riser intake on one but the work required borders on the epic.  John wanted to do a real race quality intake & head package for the FE with radical changes, but the vast majority of the FE crowd is very traditional and I was afraid I would end up with a really bitchin' part and I would sell like six of them....

The demand definitely drives the supply. I'm used to, say, half a dozen really good choices that I can work with but even then, I very very seldom have less than about ten hours in an intake before it goes on an engine. Typically closer to 20-25 hours. A full-on race port on an intake can take 40 hrs. I'm looking forward to the challenge of learning the quirks of this platform and appreciate all the input everyone is offering here. I have total respect for you and others that have put the time and effort into something pretty archaic and bringing it into a comparable performance level. I think the FE is a very cool engine.

[scott foxwell]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

Scott, reading your post I get you know what your talking about however if your going to build an FE you just can't be thinking in the back of your mind about what the cost are compared to a Chevy. Everything cost more (a lot more) than a Chevy. LOL 
That's just something you have to get use to, it's also part of the fun to build a strong engine from what others consider old or obsolete technology.
And if you just need that bowtie fix, the FE in my super-gas car had Chevy rods, pistons, pins, rings, water pump and a powerglide in it..

The FE has become a niche engine. There are a lot of baby boomers who grew up with this engine who have their retirements and their 401K's to play with. It has become very popular again. They can afford a $1700 intake manifold and the sellers know it but it really hurts the grass roots guy who would like to build a nice FE but can no more afford a $1700 intake than could an original AC Cobra. Some of the prices I see guys putting on these parts is absurd and IMO no way justified other than they know SOMEONE out there will pay. I don't consider it fun at all. I don't mind paying a fair price for a good part and even a little of a premium for a "rare" part but greed and gouging I will never get used to.

[jayb]

I'm pretty familiar with what's available for FE intakes. The adapter is a nice piece, but not one of the intakes that work with it are made for an FE so I'll stand by my statement. I don't even consider a $650.00 adapter, so I can use another $4-500.00 intake, a viable option. Like I said, not many GOOD intakes made for an FE. Lots of 60's technology. About the only real "modern" intake for teh FE is the Edelbrock Victor and it's hardly modern. The design has it's limitations.

Just to correct any misconceptions, my intake adapters are $569, not $650, assuming you buy them through my web site (not ebay).  No one has done more FE intake testing than me, and after all the intake testing I've done, I'm confident in saying that the adapter plus a 351C Weiand tunnel ram is top of the mark for an FE intake.  There is nothing better (outside of a sheet metal manifold), and that includes a tunnel wedge or a Victor.  Plus, there are other advantages of the adapter, including options to use intakes that are just not available for the FE (the Trick Flow EFI intakes come to mind), access to the valley without removing the valve covers, distributor, or breaking the water jacket, better clearance to the pushrods (or custom pushrod hole locations, if you need that), custom porting options, and ease of swapping from one intake to another.  Its true that the adapter plus a 351C intake is going to be more expensive than a straight up FE intake like a Performer RPM or a Victor, but it would actually be cheaper than a lot of the older intakes that you see advertised (the crossram intakes and factory tunnel wedge intakes come to mind).  Induction systems can get expensive for the FE; we don't have the options that more mainstream engines have.  As a result the intake adapter fills a niche for FE enthusiasts, and offers intake flexibility that otherwise wouldn't exist.

[fekbmax]

Plus the fact that you offer several different adapters that can be worked to fit some of the trick 351c intakes that Brent was speaking of, as well as the straight port (which i want one of lol) that makes a nice base for a fabricated manifold. 

[fekbmax]

Id love to see a book of test with your adapters and several intakes. Would love to see how the funnel web and CHI along with others performed or if i lived close by i could drop my simi fabricated 2X4 off at your door for sbits and giggles testing..